Driven from Europe not by politics but by his health, the Polish pianist Ignace Tiegerman (1893-1968) moved to Cairo in 1931 to help his asthma. He became the centre of piano education in Cairo for the next thirty years.

The other day I was talking about John Cage’s infamous work 4’33” with one of my students, while giving the student an overview of music history. When we got to 20th century music, it was the student, not me, who

Belgian composer and pianist Arthur De Greef (1862-1940) was a child prodigy, winning his first piano competiion at age 11, even if it was only a local one. This led him to the Brussels Conservatory where he continued in the

One of the most influential oboists of the twentieth century was Marcel Tabuteau (1887-1966), originally from France, but settling in the USA in 1907, where he became a citizen in 1912. After studying at the Paris Conservatoire, Tabuteau became principal

One of our few ‘Forgotten Pianists’ to have both a screen and stage career, Spanish conductor and pianist José Iturbi (1895-1980) had an international career from Spain to Paris, to Mexico and then Hollywood.

Brazilian pianist Guiomar Novaes (1895-1979) entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1909 at age 14 and instantly caught the attention of Debussy, who had been on her entrance jury. Even by that young age, she had already made fundamental decisions about

One of the first flute soloists to grace worldwide stages was Marcel Moyse (1889-1984), paving the way for many great flute players of the twentieth century. Born in the east of France at the turn of the century, he moved

My grandfather played the piano, mostly Methodist hymns and his favourite bits of Bach, Beethoven and Haydn. I suppose I was always aware of it and recall sitting next to him when he played when I was very small. It